Stirring Still
Elizabeth Murray1997/1997
Chrysler Museum of Art
Norfolk, United States
"I paint about the things that surround me—things that I pick up and handle every day. That's what art is. Art is an epiphany in a coffee cup," –Elizabeth Murray. Stirring Still uniquely blends abstract painting and realist imagery. The result is an almost cartoonish depiction of two snuggling cups that seem to dance with energy. Elizabeth Murray became well known for her witty and vibrant paintings of giant coffee cups, shoes, and other domestic objects portrayed in an Alice-in-Wonderland scale. Her sculpted canvases recall Frank Stella’s pioneering shaped works like Manteneia II (1968). Yet, unlike the order and balance of Stella’s work, Murray’s eccentrically shaped paintings are whimsical, edgy, and a bit unnerving—representing her personal response to painting in the late 20th century.
99.26
- Title: Stirring Still
- Creator: Elizabeth Murray
- Creator Lifespan: 1940/2007
- Creator Nationality: American
- Creator Gender: Female
- Creator Death Place: New York City, NY
- Creator Birth Place: Chicago, IL
- Date: 1997/1997
- Location Created: New York City, NY
- Provenance: The artist; Pace Wildenstein Gallery; Chrysler Museum purchase and gift of Mr. and Mrs. Arnold B. McKinnon, Mr. and Mrs. Richard M. Waitzer, Mr. and Mrs. Paul O. Hirschbiel, Mr. and Mrs. Norman C. Willcox, Mr. and Mrs. Harry T. Lester, Mr. and Mrs. Alfred F. Ritter, Jr., Mr. Thomas J. Brockenbrough, Mr. and Mrs. Charles R. Dalton, Mr. and Mrs. George M. Kaufman, David and Susan Goode, Henry and Angelica Light and Norfolk Southern Corporation, Shelley and Jeffrey Weisburg, and the Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., Art Purchase Fund, 1999.
- Physical Dimensions: 92 x 115 x 7 in. (233.7 x 292.1 x 17.8 cm)
- Credit Line: Museum purchase and gift of Mr. and Mrs. Arnold B. McKinnon, Mr. and Mrs. Richard M. Waitzer, Mr. and Mrs. Paul O. Hirschbiel, Mr. and Mrs. Norman C. Willcox, Mr. and Mrs. Harry T. Lester, Mr. and Mrs. Alfred F. Ritter, Jr., Mr. Thomas J. Brockenbrough, Mr. and Mrs. Charles R. Dalton, Mr. and Mrs. George M. Kaufman, David and Susan Goode, Henry and Angelica Light and Norfolk Southern Corporation, Shelley and Jeffrey Weisberg, and the Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., Art Purchase Fund.
- Type: Painting
- Rights: © The Murray-Holman Family Trust / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
- Medium: Oil on canvas on wood
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